On Monday night, my wife and I
watched a documentary about Mother Theresa.
While most people know her name, not all realize the work she did for the
impoverished throughout the world. She
left home at 18, said good-bye to her mother and sister, and went out to do
what God called her to. (She never saw
her mother or her sister again.) She
lived with the absolutely poorest, sickest, and hopeless people; many of whom
were literally considered garbage. And
she just loved them and treated each of them as if they were royalty.
A
certain verse from the Bible became her motivation. It is out of Matthew 25:37-40,
“'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give
you something to drink? When did we
see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?
When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit
you?' "The King will reply, 'I tell you
the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these
brothers of mine, you did for me.'
Mother Theresa believed the
scriptures. She believed that what was
written in them was truth. She believed
that her treatment of these people was a direct reflection of her treatment to Christ. And as such, she lived her life in reflection
of what she truly believed. Do we?
We live in a world where there are
an infinite amount of beliefs concerning spirituality and ethics. This has led to the confusion and fighting
that we see in the United States and throughout the world. People act out what they believe.
This raises the question that Dell
Tackett once asked, “Do you really believe that what you believe is true?” Seriously, how much time have people really
put into examining and considering what they believe? I would be willing to guess that the average
American has put little thought at all into what he claims he believes. Most of our influence comes from what we see
on TV and how our friends feel. Is that
what we should base the existence of our lives upon? Is that what we should base our children’s
lives upon?
We need to do as Mother Theresa did,
really consider what it is we believe and why.
If we would live our lives based upon our beliefs, then we should know
why we believe what we believe.
The scripture says, “Test
everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil” (1 Thess
5:21-22). God is not afraid of the Pepsi
challenge.
Raul
See you next week.
